Blurry in Fine Focus
by silversurf4
Summary: Aftermath of One - nothing but romantic, smut with a happy ending...but tasty I hope . Creese thoroughly and completely.
1. Chapter 1 The Getaway

Dani Reese was severely preoccupied with her left hand. On it rested a thin band of platinum ringed in white diamonds, worn on the third finger, where people normally work a wedding band, but that was impossible because she'd told him she wasn't interested in getting married, right?

Looking back now in the aftermath of her kidnapping and subsequent rescue from Roman Nevikov everything that was once so clear had become blurry, muddled and confusing.

Dani remembered everything being crystal clear to her, as she sat in Bodner's car, driving those last hundred feet down that dusty road. Crews was standing there amazingly alive and smiling at her, at them, at life. She couldn't help but smile back. At that moment everything was in sharp focus and her future clearer than she'd ever imagined.

He shouldn't be there, but then the sheer volume of things that shouldn't happen to - or occur around - Charlie Crews was mindboggling. He was, as her mother would say, "touched by the hand of God" although Dani was pretty certain Crews wouldn't agree. Slowly, however Dani Reese had begun to feel the grip of a powerful force, faith. Faith can be a powerful thing, when lost it can seem irretrievable, but it can be renewed.

For her it began at the FBI, when she chose Crews over an opportunity to advance. So they expected her to climb over her partner, someone who'd watched her back for two years and saved her ass a dozen times - for what? A promotion? No, she wouldn't do that for them, for anyone, not to Crews, not to her partner. Dani decided to trust in what she believed and Dani believed in her partner. She had an unerring faith that there was nothing she and Charlie Crews couldn't get through together.

As she got out of the car that day in the orange grove, their conversation that day was short, but then there was really so little to say. "Roman?" she'd questioned.

"Dead" he answered still smiling. She didn't have to ask how, she knew Crews killed him.

"You're going to be in trouble" she warned.

"Again" he answered still smiling. "But this guy I actually did kill" he grinned broadly.

"I thought you said that killing takes a piece of your soul, makes you forget who you are…" she repeated things she'd heard him say when Charlie thought no one was listening, she always was.

"I say a lot of things" he said enigmatically and effectively ceasing further inquiries. She could ask and he would answer, but he wouldn't really say anything and when he did it – that really bothered Dani.

After a moment, Crews added something he didn't need to that was very telling "he hurt you…no one hurts you Reese." She had no response, what could she really say to that anyway.

Then she asked what him what she'd asked Bodner "Crews why'd you do it? Why'd you get in that car?"

She asked more angrily than she intended. In her mind it contained the disclaimer, "why the hell would you do something that scared me more than being held in a dank basement for a week, by a raving psychopath, why Charlie would you do that to me?" but that part remained unspoken.

"You know why" he said softly as he smiled and features softened….and she did.

People will tell you that "actions speak louder than words", but what did they tell you about someone, a man, willing to give their life in trade for yours? To forfeit all they were, all they ever would be just to see you safe and well. Dani smiled to herself, there probably wasn't an axiom for that. Love like that didn't happen every day, because that was what they were talking about, love. Charlie Crews loved her, he didn't need to say so - he just had.

That was before. Now she sat staring at her left hand, the one Crews held all the way back from the orange grove to the station. The one he'd shyly released when they were met by prying eyes.

At the station, they were separated and both grilled by IAD, until Kevin Tidwell burst in and raising holy hell to get them both released. He must have pulled every marker he had to get IAD of their backs, but as Tidwell impulsively wrapped Dani in a giant hug he simply didn't care who saw, Dani watched as Crews' eyes became unreadable and his body stiffened. Undeterred by his display of affection for his "favorite detective", Tidwell simply turned and hugged Crews too. Crews good naturedly but darkly commented "down boy", but his eyes never left Dani's. There was nothing to say, but still more to be said. Tidwell talked animatedly, but no matter how hard Dani tried to stay in that moment, it vanished.

Crews simply melted away, like a giant cat into the jungle, silently, invisible and deadly.

Later that weekend, Tidwell produced a black velvet box with a diamond ring in it and he'd asked Dani to marry him, swearing he never wanted to be more than four feet from her for the rest of his natural born life. Dani put him off, saying she was still too dazed by the week's events - but the truth was her life and her future changed that day in the orange grove. She could no more go back to who she was before than turn back the clock or unset the sun. The box on Tidwell's dresser now served as a constant reminder of his request and her "not yet refusal" but a delay he felt she shouldn't feel. It wore on them both. A fight was coming, she could feel it like a storm building.

Crews faded away and although he frequently called to check on her, he always sounded distant and a bit forlorn, knowing Tidwell was there listening to her end of the call. Dani longed to look at his face and see the expression behind his eyes when he spoke, but they were both on administrative leave with no "professional" reason to see each other.

Dani knew she couldn't marry Tidwell, she didn't want to marry Tidwell. Tidwell was attentive and kind, but the man Dani wanted, no…needed to - talk to, see, be with, to connect to was Crews. But Crews and she weren't supposed to be together were they? Questions swirled around in her mind as the days of admin leave wore on and Dani grew more restless and her memory became hazier and recall more fuzzy. Was what she felt for Crews real or imagined? Did he feel it too?

Then out of the blue on Wednesday afternoon, Crews phoned. "Hey, I need a favor" he said simply.

The man saved her life so a favor was simple. "Sure" Dani replied "name it."

"Go with me to wedding this weekend?" he asked a bit more reserved than she recalled.

"Crews… don't you have lots of girls that you could get to go with you to a wedding? You're rich, you're famous, you're handsome, I'm sure anyone of them would jump at the chance to go to some weekend wedding bash with you." Dani tried waffling, she didn't need another reminder of Tidwell's proposal – the velvety box standing on his dresser was plenty.

Crews stood his ground "I don't want to go with just anyone, I want to go with someone." Classic Crews - he said something profound without seeming to say much at all. A multi-millionaire with girls jumping at a chance to go anywhere with him and he wanted Dani.

"Ok" Dani relented "but just so you know the lifesaving thing? You coulda traded that for something a bit more valuable. A wedding means I got off easy…" she tried to make light of the situation.

Charlie's voice returned a somewhat cryptic reply "It could be a long term thing you're agreeing to - you never know…"

"Unless you are you planning on doing this every weekend, I think I can manage" she laughed.

"Pick you up Friday night at your place at 8?" He questioned. "Pack a bag, I'll have you back in time for work on Monday"

"Where are we going?" she inquired.

"It's kind of a surprise." He said lightly, then after a pause adding "Why? You need to get permission?" somewhat sharper as something bordering on jealousy tinged his voice darker tones.

"A surprise to whom? Me or the bride and groom? And no I don't need permission…. It's just… never mind Crews. We'll figure it out." She resigned herself that simply getting to see his face when they spoke would fix a lot of things for both of them. "Is it a daytime or evening wedding?" she asked.

"Does it matter?" he responded innocently.

"Yeah, Crews it matters. Evening weddings are more formal, so I'll have to dress nicer" she sighed exasperated.

"Which would you prefer?" he asked.

"Huh?" Dani questioned wondering if she'd missed a portion of the conversation. "Why would it matter what I'd like? Uh-uh, you know what? We're not doing that Crews. Let's make this easier. Are you wearing a tux or a suit?" she continued to try to tease info out of him.

"A tux? I think…yeah, a tux" he seemed to make up his mind right then.

"You're sure? Sounds like you aren't sure?" she smiled into the phone at his unease. The man could dress to kill, face down a felon with a knife, climb into hell on her behalf and couldn't decide what he was wearing until just that minute.

"Wear anything you like, I'm sure you'll look great." He said somewhat shyly.

"Ok, I'll find something suitable." She tried hard to sound like she was exasperated with him instead of anxious about seeing him again. "Sometimes you can be such a guy Crews" she teased.

"Reese, I am a guy." He deadpanned.

"Yes, Crews I know" she said hanging up the phone. It was odd how they both just seemed to know when a conversation was over. Neither said goodbye, they just stop talking and one of them ended the call, it was as if they never said goodbye and never would.

"Hey, babe" Kevin Tidwell said wrapping his arms around her from behind "who was that? Your mom?"

"Uh, no. It was Crews. He needs a favor." She felt him bristle at the mention of Crews' name the moment it left her lips. He…uh… needs me to go to some wedding thing with him this weekend."

She could feel the resistance coming before he began to speak. "Look, babe I know he's your partner, but don't you think he could get his own girl? You're spoken for. Call him back, tell him we got plans, we'll do something fun."

Dani thought it was odd because the two men seemed to like each other enough when Tidwell first arrived, but when Crews became aware she and Tidwell were dating things changed – cooled. There was more formality, more posturing, more protectiveness from Crews. She thought of it as brotherly affection and then realized he was nothing like a brother to her and Dani finally saw it for what it was, what it always had been.

Thinking back Crews was always aware of when men were interested in her, from the freak at the pharmaceuticals company to Rick Larsen to the cops in the bar at the wake, even the college kids who told her she was "pretty" – they all earned dark glittering looks from Crews. She could never really put a name to it, but it was noticeable, once she started noticing. He paid special attention to the attention they paid to her and seemed not to like it much when they did. She remembered the first time it occurred to her because she dismissed it outright. It was protectiveness not possessiveness, right? I mean Crews didn't "like her" like her, did he? That was just silly right? And yet here she was thinking about it, him, them, again.

It occurred to her that Tidwell was still grumbling in the background about Crews getting his own girl or something when she returned to the conversation. "He's my partner, he needs something and I kinda owe him big time remember?" she added to soften the blow that she was about to leave for a weekend adventure to who knows where with her attractive, rich, older partner.

"Yeah, I know babe, but I was kinda hoping you and me… we could be partners, ya know?" he hinted.

She sighed heavily the dam finally breaking "Look I just can't do this right now. I need some space and time to think and some time apart might do us some good" she snapped sharper than she meant to at his reference to his recent proposal.

"You need space and time from me - but you can run off for the weekend with Crews. Is that how it works?" Tidwell said. There was no disguising the jealousy in his voice.

"Crews isn't like that and you know it" Dani said defending her partner.

"No? Dani don't be naïve. I've seen the way he looks at you… the little gestures, the hand in the small of your back when he doesn't need to, him opening doors, holding elevators…you may not see it, but I see it. And you? Dani… you let him do it, you don't even let me do those things for you, so yeah… Crews is like that. He's a man Dani and you're an attractive woman, all men are like that."

"Are you saying you don't trust me?" she was steamed now headed for a full fledged melt down that had been coming since Roman and her truncated contact with Crews. "That's what this is about? So what I'm out of your sight for a couple days and then I'll just jump Crews. Be real. It's Crews - I have to resist the impulse to strangle him most days."

"You say that now, but that's how each of my three marriages started. Couldn't stand each other and then we couldn't keep our hands off each other." He stated flatly.

"Yeah, well maybe that's why I'm not so ready to just jump into marriage with you. You don't seem to be too good at it. Besides I'm not you…and Crews – Crews is definitely not you. He's still in love with his ex-wife. He's old fashioned, he's polite, he's so… so not you." The harder she argued and defended Crews, the more she realized she was making Tidwell's point.

"You know what? I'm not doing this with you. We aren't married, we aren't going to get married. I'm not going to have someone breathing down my neck if I want to go do something with a friend."

"Easy now, sweetheart, let's not get hasty. Tidwell gets it, you need some space. I can do that, but baby…. Come on? I know you're upset - just forget I said anything about it and I'll see you next week at work?" he tried to walk back and make amends.

Dani just scowled at him, grabbed her things and walked towards the door.

"What no good bye kiss?" she glared darkly at him and slammed the door on the way out. Tidwell sighed to himself and said out loud "why do I always go for the ones with the tempers?"

***********************************************************************************

Friday night at 8PM sharp, Charlie Crews knocked softly on Dani's front door. She opened it to find him standing on the stoop fidgeting somewhat nervously dressed in stone washed denim jeans and an untucked, slightly rumpled, white linen shirt. He had the amazing ability to look neat in anything, just like Kevin could looks rumpled and slightly dingy - right after showering. Crews wore no jewelry, nothing but a watch and sunglasses and he always smelled so wonderfully masculine, but crisp and unique. It was just Crews right? So why all of a sudden did her stomach flip flop at his smile. He pulled the shades down revealing his eyes and smiled brightly "ready?" he asked.

She nodded and turned to get her bag, but Crews pronounced "I've got it". As he walked to the car with her suitcase, Dani was reminded of Tidwell's comment. She really did let Crews do things for her that she simply wouldn't tolerate from anyone else. Dani remembered asking her mother, why she let her father do things that Roya could manage fine on her own and Dani's mother told her "men need to feel needed and like to care for women, protect them and it was simpler to let them do so." Dani was still puzzling how Crews had become that for her when Charlie placed her suitcase in his trunk next to his very light looking garment bag. Dani began to wonder if she'd over packed.

Apparently Charlie did too because his next comment teased "we're not moving there you know?"

"Ok, mister let's not say where we're going… you try to plan for every possible scenario and keep it to an overnight bag" she glared at him not in the mood.

"So then just put the bag in the car?" he asked.

"Yes, Crews." She stated flatly.

"Yes, dear." He returned in a teasing smirk eyes hidden beneath his shades. Then Charlie opened her car door and when she was in closed it. Dammit Dani thought, I just did it again. We aren't on a date, we are colleagues on a what? Adventure? Excursion? Definitely not a date?

"So… you gonna tell me where we are going now?" she inquired.

"No. I don't think so." He cocked his head to the side considered the question some more and then responded simply "nope." Crews climbed behind the wheel and turned the key, sparking the little Italian car to life. He drove deftly and expertly and she admired his ease behind the wheel. He drove them in companionable silence to the Ontario Airport. Dani noticed that rather than his traditional Zen tape, Crews had the satellite radio in his car tuned to an alternative rock station, like she preferred. Already ahead of the game, he chose not to battle with her over music and she smiled quietly to herself at his simple gesture.

Perhaps that was the key to Charlie Crews, he was not complex; he was simple. He was by no means plain, but his tastes ran to the ordinary and his needs were few. Crews' life had become a complex nightmare, but not because of anything he'd done. Crews himself was basic. He needed little more than fruit to make himself happy. Even his large house, which was remarkably devoid of furnishings spoke of a man not attached to many things. He enjoyed his cars, although he seemed to have trouble holding on to them. He went through cell phones like Dani went through socks, but there was nothing fancy or glamorous about Crews. Nothing about him said "look at me, look at me" but she found she couldn't take her eyes off her partner.

She watched the way his lean hands gripped and stroked the steering wheel, as the blond hair on his knuckles shone in the setting sun. His jaw was relaxed and a smile the natural expression on his face, one he wore without trying when relaxed as he was now. He glanced sideways and caught her admiring him. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing" she said looking away quickly, but when her gaze returned he was still looking at her with his shades pulled down on his nose.

"It's okay to have fun you know. This can be fun – you and me, running off on an adventure together, just for now?" He winked at her and was rewarded by a genuine smile from Dani. He was so honest and true, she found herself feeling safe and relaxed just being with him. It was a bit unsettling, like the thrill you get from a roller coaster, but one you know can't last.

"We're here." He said. Dani looked up and they were parked at a private jet on the apron in the setting sun. Dani just gaped at the gesture. Crews was a multi-millionaire so it would figure he could do things like this, but he just never did – or never that Dani knew about. "I'll just get the bags."

She reached out to him, smiling and staying him with a light touch on his arm, his linen shirt was rough against her fingers, but his forearm tight and lean underneath. "Um, I think they'll do that for you" she gestured with the other hand to the flight crew at the jet's steps.

"Yeah, but I just… I'm used to doing it for myself" he almost blushed at his own display of wealth - only willing to go so far - before the blue collar in him shone through the millions.

They boarded the plane, which was small but well appointed. Shortly after takeoff, Charlie disappeared into a small room at the back of the plane and reemerged wearing a tux. He looked like a movie star, Dani thought, like Steve McQueen but with his red hair lightly tousled by the wind on the runway, he was breathtakingly handsome. It was a simple elegant tux with cuff links and shiny black loafers.

"Would you like to get changed? Or you can wait… we have a couple hours til we get there. Can I make you something to drink? Not that you have to drink, but if you want to… I'll make sure you stay safe, I promise you." He added solemnly. She believed him. He meant every word.

"Crews…where are we going?" she asked without any affect. He smiled at the genuine inquisitive nature of her simple question. She was there, under all that toughness and brusqueness, his Dani the one who didn't need to force - only needed to ask and he would give her the world.

"New York. The Rainbow Room, Manhattan. Drinks, dinner and dancing, then the Plaza Hotel" he cocked his head to the side and wondered aloud "if you want something else to wear we can shop first or there are some things that I think will fit you in the back". If he was trying to impress her, this was doing the trick she thought. She felt like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, everything was so new to her, being whisked away on a private jet for a weekend in New York with a handsome eligible millionaire who just happened to be her partner and the person she trusted most in the world. Dani wanted to pinch herself, but elected for a different sort of wakeup call.

"Scotch. I'll have scotch on the rocks when I come back. I'm sure whatever you've got on this thing is the really good stuff" Dani said as she walked to the back to examine these clothes he'd picked out somewhat skeptically. Crews was a very conservative but nicely dressed man, not like Tidwell you needed "Granimals" to get dressed and for whom she'd finally broken down and taken to pick out nicer suits. He couldn't walk around looking like an escapee from the 1980's with his long hippy hair and wide lapel, two button suits.

But there on a modest rack in the back room of the plane were six dress, three short and three longer, including one that was a vibrant red with bare shoulders and a fairly risqué cutaway back and slit up the left side. There were small boxes with appropriate undergarments and shoes for each dress. He'd thought of everything, or maybe he had someone do the shopping for him. But as she pulled the red dress from the closet, there was a simple message pinned to it in Charlie's handwriting "this one is my favorite". Dani's heart was hammering wildly. This was like some wild dream you had where your insanely rich, elegant, handsome bachelor protector with his radiant smile and bright blue eyes smiled at you as you awoke to the same house, same job, same life. She had to be dreaming, didn't she?

Dani dressed in the red dress and carried the shoes with her into the cabin, where to his credit, Crews had the decency to look as shocked as she felt. His chin dropped and an audible if subconscious "wow" escaped his lips, before he stammered "you look….uh…. nice" before he swallowed hard and took a long drink from the scotch he'd poured for Dani. It looked as though his tie was too tight and Dani couldn't resist toying with him just a tiny bit.

"You think it fits okay?" she said twirling to show off the dresses plunging back for his benefit. When her eyes returned to his, Charlie Crews actually looked paler as if that were possible. His hands looked as if he might crush the highball glass he was holding. "That for me?" she motioned at the scotch. He couldn't tell if she meant the drink or his raging hard on, but Crews managed a strangled "uh- huh" in response.

Dani carefully walked across the plane cabin, which seemed longer for both of them than it possibly could have been given the relative size of the plane. She took the glass from him and drank a small sip. Crews had music playing in the cabin and as a song she wouldn't have thought Crews knew came on he asked her "dance with me?" He stepped closer as the opening strains of the Kings of Leon "Closer" began and the temperature in the cabin soared. He waited for permission before touching her, a permission she never spoke but gave him with her eyes.

"Crews what are we doing?" She questioned her eyes seeking something from him in response.

"We're going to a wedding…I told you" he backpedaled like a small boy with his hand in the cookie jar, but unwilling to admit he was caught.

"So who are these people? How do you know them?" she asked pressing his distraction with her cleavage.

"Um…. What… oh, friends" he stammered again appearing as his tie was too tight.

"Can I help you with that tie?" she offered as her nimble fingers climbed to his collar and worked open the button under his bow tie relaxing his throat considerably and she felt him exhale the breath he'd been holding.

"So who do you know? The bride or the groom?" she said coyly tried to ferret out where this was headed.

"The girl I feel like I've known all my life. The man.. I'm just beginning to understand him, but he loves her with all his heart, of that I'm sure." Charlie said without his eyes ever leaving hers.

"Ok, but before this night is over… you're going to tell me, what's going on here" she said simply smiling.

Crews nodded gathering her more completely in his embrace, lightly swaying to the coarse tones of the lead singer's effort. Dani placed her hands on his chest and allowed herself to step closer - into the warmth and smell of Charlie Crews. Crews hand was on her bare back now and it was so warm.

"Dani" he whispered "do me a favor?"

She looked up and he was smiling down at her his eyes a Mediterranean blue, teasing "I thought that was what I was doing".

He said "no, this favor I need you to close your eyes for" he said as he stroked her face lightly. Dani felt her eyes flutter closed - even they wanted what came next so badly. Charlie leaned closer and brushed her lips lightly with his, pausing just long enough for her to reach for him with hers. The kiss was slow, sweet and Dani thought it should never end. Charlie's lips drank her breath and he gathered her closer still, the red of her dress bright against the white of his shirt. He broke for just an instant and then returned with a hunger that matched one that had been building in her since that day in the orange grove two weeks ago.

His tongue swept into her mouth tasting of scotch and strength. His lean long arms held her tightly and she heard nothing, no wind, no music, no radio chatter, nothing but her heart hammering madly and blood rushing in her ears. Then pilot cleared his throat interrupting "folks you'll need to take you seats we're landing at Teeterboro in ten minutes. Dani ducked her head shyly against Crews chest and shoulder as he cradled her neck in his hand responding in a deeper voice than she imagined Crews to have "just give us a minute".

They broke apart awkwardly neither ready for the strength of their collective response and Charlie sat opposite her as they landed, but he was unable to take his eyes off her. Planeside a long dark limousine met them and Charlie spoke to the pilot before climbing in too. First he sat opposite her as he had on the plane, but just before the driver left the airport, Crews raised the privacy screen and moved to the seat beside her.

"Do you want something? Champagne?" he offered.

Dani was entranced but still a detective. "Yes, I want you to tell me what we are doing here."

He stared at her and then looked down for an instant and Dani knew he was caught. "And I don't want to hear about this phantom wedding you have to go to for people you don't know either. Tell me the truth, Charlie." His eyes widened slightly at her use of his first name, she knew she had his complete attention. "You are driving me crazy and I think I deserve to know why. No more surprises, no more games. Tell me what you're doing here tonight with all this."

When he looked up again, Dani swore there were tears in Charlie's eyes. "You're right. I never should have lied to you. I won't ever do it again, I swear. Just promise me you won't marry Tidwell until you give me a chance to show you…. I can give you so much, Dani. I know I'm not what you want, but I can make sure you have everything you ever want." He issued a ragged sigh and she knew those really were tears. He took her hand in his and said "you never even had to let me kiss you again, all I want in life for the rest of my life is to hear my name off your lips, I don't know why I didn't tell you sooner. Just don't marry him Dani."

"I'm not" she said her eyes full of tears too.

"You're not?" he sounded somewhat shocked.

"No, you moron. Why the hell do you think I'm here? With you? In a dress you picked out, that's you wrote was your favorite? Thinking scotch off your lips is the best thing I've ever tasted? Why the hell do you think I'm here, Charlie? I'm not doing a favor for my partner. I'm here because I want to be."

He moved her hand to his other and put his warm palm into the slit in her dress at the knee, feeling the silken smoothness of her legs and igniting a heat there and in the pit of her stomach. "I'm in love with you, Dani and it's not something I'm prepared to compromise about. I've killed for you, I'd die for you and I just want you to give me a chance to…." He moved his hand to caress her neck and bent to kiss her.

"Dani" he kept repeating her name over and over like a mantra as his hand moved up her thigh and she thought the car might ignite from the heat they were creating. The limo stopped and as it did Charlie discreetly removed his hand kissed her forehead and lowered the screen. "We're at the Rainbow Room, sir."

"Take us to the Plaza" Crews spoke firmly to the driver and then glanced at Dani for confirmation "unless you want to…" she only nodded once and he again pronounced "Plaza" before raising the screen again.

"Charlie" she stopped him. "You have to stop touching me right now. Unless you want me to come in the back of this car, you have to wait until we get upstairs, can you do that?" Charlie squeezed his eyes shut as tears escaped the edges, "yes, yes I can."

There was something so innocent and fragile about the tears on his freckled face and blonde lashes that was Dani's undoing as she reached for him. She meant only to kiss away his tears but his mouth crashed into hers as he pulled her body impossibly close to him. "Charlie" she gasped "oh, god Charlie" as he trailed wet kisses down her neck and the hollow of her throat.

"Can't stop touching you…" he whispered "don't want to stop touching you….I want to do things to you that we can't do in his car, honey" he grabbed the car seat with both hands and pushed away. "I'm going to do things to you that no man has ever done before, I'm going to love you with all my heart for as long as I live and I don't need you to love me back, Dani, just don't…."

"Stop talking, Charlie" her own tears broke as she laid her fingers across his lips. "You idiot, you don't need private planes, or trips across country or fancy hotels to persuade me, I'm hooked, I….I'm in love with you, I have been for such a long time now."

The doorman opened the limo door and they extricated themselves from the car and through the hotel lobby. People say New York has this wonderful skyline and nightlife, but Dani didn't care. All she really wanted was for the elevator to move faster and Charlie Crews stripped to nothing but that bow tie. The lift operator smiled knowingly as Crews handed him a couple $100 bills and said simply "Crews and no stops please." His hand found hers and Dani herself griping his hand tightly, before he leaned over and whispered those same words from over a week ago to her again "just breathe, honey."

Dani made a mental note to talk to Crews about her feelings on endearments, but just before he straightened Charlie pressed his lips to her pulse point above her collarbone and the thought fled along with her ability to stand on her own two feet apparently. He smiled at his effect on her and gently held her against him and the elevator dinged loudly and bobbed to a stop high above the city. "Thank you, Mr. Crews. Have a terrific night and might I say you and your wife look incredible, sir."

They both smiled and remembered a time when Dani was quick to point out they were not a couple.

"Thanks" he smiled at the man, before the doors closed. There was no hallway, no door it was a penthouse – there were no other rooms on the floor. The brilliant NYC skyline lay beyond them as Charlie darkened the lights and took off his coat. "Dance with me, Dani" he pled.

"Charlie… I….need you to…." She backed away slowly.

His eyes showed intense concern. "It's okay, you're okay, honey. I'll turn them back on. Tell me what you want. Name it and it's yours."

Dani bit her bottom lip wrestling with the demon inside that said "don't do it, you'll be hurt again and this time you might not come back at all". "I just need to think… I…." she trailed off.

Charlie pulled a chair from the dining room table and sat it across the room from where she stood, well away from her. He sat and put his elbows on his knees.

"What are you doing?" Dani asked as he patiently removed the cufflinks and rolled up the sleeves on what was likely a $3000 tuxedo.

"Giving you time" he said gently "if you need space I can leave the room" he offered innocently.

She sighed at him and he smiled knowingly. "What?" she said "don't look at me like you know how this is going to turn out. This is complicated Crews. I'm dating our Captain remember."

"Not anymore" Charlie said as his look turned dark. "Not anymore, Dani."

She stared at him but knew he was right. As kind and good for her Kevin Tidwell had been, she would never again share his bed and they both knew it. "Ok, so let's think this through…" she began talking aloud like he would and then stopped herself "oh my god, I'm doing it aren't I? I've officially lost my mind and now I'm talking to myself. Christ Crews this isn't the slightest bit funny so wipe that grin off your face." She was edgy from being off balance. Sex Dani was good at, but this was different, she was different.

"It's not complicated, honey. Its simple. Do you trust me?" Charlie inquired.

"You know I do" she said in response.

"Do you love me?" he asked patiently as if his world didn't balance on her answer.

"Yes" she whispered.

"Then it's not complex at all, it's simple. I think you know that I love you. All that remains is for you to just let it happen, Dani. Let me love you and I promise I will do all the rest. Just allow this to be."

"Is that Zen?" she teased softly looking up from under eyes hooded by dark lashes.

He was standing now and his shoes were off as he approached her like a cat silently on his stocking feet making no sound on the thick carpet. "No, no Zen, just the absolute unvarnished truth." His knuckle raised her chin and he held her eyes and bent to kiss her again. Just before he touched her lips with his, Charlie stopped and waited for permission. No man ever gave her this kind of control, this kind of respect, it was almost overwhelming. "Charlie" she breathed and still he waited - eyes locked on hers.

She raised a tiny hand to his face and caressed his cheek and chin with it. He was so warm. She ran her fingers into his short red hair and reached the back of his neck with her short nails eliciting a short hiss from him, but still he waited. Then she reached for him with her eyes and her heart and Charlie felt her give in to him, to them, he gently kissed her lower lips and placed a chaste kiss on her lips before he took a deeper breath and drank deeply from her lips. Dani felt like there was no oxygen in the room. It was being consumed by the fire Crews ignited in her as he swallowed her breath in an ever increasingly deeper series of long kisses. She threw her head back just to breath and he said it again "just breath, honey" as he kissed a trail down her throat to the hollow between her breasts. "I need you to take this dress off now, honey, before there's nothing left of it but a zipper and a couple of threads."

She wanted to tell him to stop calling her "honey" but she couldn't, Dani found that coming from Charlie's lips was a secret name for her that no one else knew. "You gotta let go then Charlie" and he seemed shocked to find he was holding her so tightly. He blushed slightly and released her.

In the bathroom, Dani looked at herself in the mirror. She was elegant in her red dress with upswept hair, but Charlie didn't do fancy or elegant, Charlie was simple. She found the linen shirt he was wearing earlier in the garment bag and removed all her clothes and buttoned the front four buttons on it. She left her hair up knowing Charlie would want to take it down and came out of the bathroom. His back was turned, but he was having a stiff drink to steady his nerves when she approached from behind and wrapped both arms around his slim waist laying her face against his back and inhaling his unique scent.

She felt the shudder run through him as she slid her hands lower into his front pockets and her fingers danced lightly close to his manhood. "Honey, please…." He pulled her around to his front and watched as he took in her curves under the light linen of his shirt. "I brought you a nice selection of lingerie…" he offered.

"I like this. It smells like you. Do you want the drink Charlie?" she tempted.

"I thought I did, now I can't remember why." He spoke plainly from his heart. "Right now I'm lucky I can remember my name. I know you've been told this a million times, but do you have any idea how beautiful you are? Seriously, I…" as he reached up and pulled the hairpin she knew he wanted to and her hair cascaded down onto her shoulders. Charlie didn't even try to suppress the groan he felt at this gesture. And then he was everywhere, touching her, licking her, stroking her and their heat became incredible. Dani moaned and Charlie kicked it up a notch, riding his hand up the inside of her thigh to find her wet and without underwear.

She could feel his grin against her skin. "Turns out we won't be needing a lot of lingerie this trip" she teased, earning her a deep chuckle from him.

"What will you sleep in?" he toyed with her breasts under the shirt, which was now magically completed unbuttoned.

"Who says we're gonna do anything resembling sleep Detective?" she turned temptress. Charlie liked this when Dani felt free enough to play, to enjoy herself and he smiled his appreciation against her side when she jumped from him hitting a ticklish spot. Like tiger cub with a moving dinner item, Charlie fixed one hand against her other side at the waist and drew her to him, raking his teeth across her sensitive side. Dani groaned and wriggled, before gasping his name "Charlie…..please….stop"

Again ever the attentive lover and protector he raised his head, concern apparent in his eyes "are you okay?"

"Yes, but you're driving crazy with that" she smiled. "I'm fine, honey, really." Charlie froze and an immense cat like grin appeared on his face. "What?" Dani said.

"You just called me honey" he said with smile bright enough to eclipse the sun.

"No I didn't." she defended, but knowing she might have. He was just so concerned for no reason other than tickling her to the point of distraction. "I wouldn't do that. You're hearing stuff Crews."

"Uh-huh" he said "I'm going to find every spot on your body that makes you make that noise and put my mouth on it.

"What noise?" she said.

"Giggling" he grabbed both of her buttocks and ground his impressive erection against her pelvis. He groaned in ecstasy and she dug her nails into his shoulders eliciting a low growl from him before he latched onto her neck and raked it with his teeth.

Breathless, Dani scrambled for some sort of control. "I don't giggle" she contested.

"Giggle is just one of many noises you're going to make for me honey, one of many, so many…" he promised before putting both hands in her hair and kissing her until she thought she might pass out.

"Charlie….one of us is wearing too much and it's not me" she returned to the task at hand by working on his pants and zipper.

"You want them off?" he asked. She nodded and bit her lip and little habit she had when he was moving too slow – one that he was learning to love. "Then take them off" he teased with his hands outstretched. Dani worked the tiny buttons on his shirt feverishly, but her nimble fingers made quick work of them even as Charlie stroked her face and ran his fingers through her long hair. "I love your hair." He mused.

"Shut up Crews I'm trying to concentrate" she said pushing the shirt off his shoulders. She pulled at the white t-shirt underneath and he removed his hands long enough for her to pull it over his head before he reached for her again. This time the open front of his linen shirt allowed him to place his bare chest against hers. His arms reached up along her sides under her arms and behind her shoulder blades pulling her impossibly close. His mouth crashed into hers tongues twisting with intense heat and just as quickly he stopped.

Dani was breathless, but wanted more. His shirt gone there was nothing to grab onto except his shoulders and back. She dragged her nails along his back and he arched into her, then dove to her breast suckling it with a swirling tongue around the hardening peak. She moaned softly and he continued to touch and taste every inch of her.

"Pants Crews" was all she could manage. He chuckled again and she could feel it in his chest like a big cat's purr. She pushed him away and worked his button and zipper having already released the suspenders during the shirt episode. His pants fell to the ground and Charlie stepped out of them towards her toeing off his socks. She dodged him playfully, but didn't step outside his reach and he easily swept her up and carried her into the bedroom.

Charlie laid her gently down on the bed, pushed her knees apart and began kissing his way lower, his tongue drawing amazingly intricate patterns over the sensitized skin of her belly. Dani writhed, but Charlie simple held both her hands to still her. His mouth closed over her wet center and Dani's moan was something Charlie would never forget. His tongue began to draw circles and rapid flick across her sensitive nub, while he released her hands to put them under her and raise her for better access. Dani was now in an exquisite type of agony and the words coming from her mouth were ones she could neither remember nor would probably wanted repeated. Endearments he knew she hated were lavished on him as she coached him "Right there honey, oh yes, god Charlie and others" as he smiled and drove her over the edge.

As he felt the orgasm ripple through her, Charlie slid up her body and took her lips in his. She could taste herself on him and it only served to further arouse her. "Honey, please don't stop. Charlie, I need you now. Please Charlie." He shushed her and put a finger over her lips. "Just breathe for me sweetheart, this is just a taste of the things I'm gonna do to you tonight, honey" he promised.

"Charlie… you can't make me wait, I need you – just you Charlie. I want you inside me, please" she pled with him as she griped his arms tightly. "Oh god, Charlie" she gasped as he returned to his careful attentions to her breast. "Crews" she barked. His head snapped up, just enough command presence left in her voice to get through to him.

"Charlie" she reached for him through his lightweight boxers. "You have to let me touch you, I need you Charlie, please" She could feel him twitching in her hands.

"Dani…..there's twelve years of pent up energy there. We should use something" He was ever cautious and caring for the consequences for her.

"I'm on the pill." She said breathlessly.

"Roman let you take those for the last week did he?" Dani sobered a bit.

"What are you saying? We aren't going to have sex? Cause if that's what we're saying I think I'm going to have to kill you." She said smiling darkly.

"I have to get something before we can do that….I'm ready for any consequences but I don't think you are." He admitted.

"So you're saying you bought six dresses, matching shoes and underwear, chartered a plane and didn't bring condoms? You're amazing Crews…." She said exasperated throwing her head back onto the pillow.

"But amazing in a good way right?" he asked seeming somewhat concerned.

"Fuck it, we've gone this far. I'm past the point of being able to control what happens with you Charlie. Just come with me now and we'll figure the rest out later." When Dani committed to something it was 100% and she was committed to Crews now heart and soul.

"You understand this isn't a chance you'll get pregnant, Dani. Twelve years of prison, three of wanting you and nine months from now you'll be a mother I can guarantee it. Are you ready for that?" he asked.

"Six hours ago I wasn't ready for this, but I can tell you this… if you don't fuck me right now Charlie Crews I swear to god I'm walking out of this room and calling a cab. Now Charlie, I mean it." A flip switched in his brain as she said those things and he attacked with a renew vigor understanding the tenacity of this amazing woman again, but for the first time in this light.

It was morning, two days later, the sheets were high thread count and luxurious. Charlie was spooned behind her with his right arm wrapped possessively around her and his hand cupping her breast. He snored softly into her throat at her hairline near the base of her neck and he still set every nerve she had on edge when he shifted and she felt his freckled red haired leg slide between and against her darker tanned smoother ones intimating how truly close they were.

Dani's left hand dangled from under the duvet and there perched on her ring finger was platinum band ringed with diamonds, which probably cost more than she'd made last year. Under the ring was an inscription, it read "all my love, all my life – Charlie". He was right he'd taken her to a wedding, theirs.

They were entwined in the honeymoon suite of some luxury hotel in Niagara Falls and his name was on her lips well into the night. She'd seen all his scars and the tattoos, the ugly prison ones branding him a "cop" that he'd told her he'd take off if she wanted, but liked them to remind him of where he'd been and how far he'd come from then. Dani realized she wouldn't erase anything about Charlie except perhaps the pain he'd had to endure, but she was going to make every effort to make him forget that.

When the minister asked "do you take this man?" Dani had wanted to tell him "anywhere, anytime over anyone else", but settled for a simple "yes" and Charlie's tears fell freely when he pronounced he would "love her for as long as they both would live". When the man pronounced them married, Charlie looked straight up in the air, just like the first day she'd met him - seeking something in the light, the sky, the stars and when he looked back it was like she was transported back to that orange grove and understood for the first time what he'd sacrificed and would always do to protect her. It made Dani want to belong to Charlie Crews more than anything else in the world. The thin band on her finger said that she did. She wasn't sure she'd ever show anyone the inscription; it was so intensely personal to her and to Charlie.

Dani had told Charlie she wasn't sure how she'd handle things when they got back to LA or if she'd wear the ring at work, whereupon he'd produced a simpler band of titanium, identical to the one he wore on his left ring finger. It contained the same inscription and on it were etched three tiny stars for each of the years he'd known her, when his life began anew and he found he could love again. Charlie seemed to accept without question that she would handle their marriage in her own way and in her own time – at work. He was content knowing that they belonged together and they were together in every meaningful way.

Charlie told her in no uncertain terms that he would never take his ring off and when he died he wanted to be buried with it. When she'd asked him how he'd handle the questions, he smiled and teased her "I'll tell people it's so women will stop hitting on me." This earned him a genuine grin from Dani. He was learning to make her smile in so many new and wonderful ways.

Explaining - to everyone would come later, there would be anger from her father, disappointment and perhaps anger from Tidwell and only her mother likely understood that this was not a choice she could make with her head, it was one her heart made that day two weeks ago in that California orange grove, when she realized he had come for her, he would always come for her, he would die for her. But Dani didn't want Charlie to die, she wanted him to live for a long time and if happily ever after was what it took to get that….well, she could deal with that too.


	2. Chapter 2 Snapshot of the Future

_**Disclaimer – This story is totally AU. **__Someone a long time ago asked me to continue this story. I started to but got sidetracked by other plot bunnies and just ran across it again. It continues to be a capricious little bit of fluff…but it amuses me. Hope you like it too._

_Also I own nothing and I'm worth even less – Charlie Crews, Dani Reese and the rest of Life are the intellectual property of Far Shariat and Rand Ravich - We just like to play with their dolls._

_

* * *

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**Snapshot of the Future…**

It was Monday morning. Dani Reese sat in her little navy blue Toyota hybrid rolling a diamond wedding band around the third finger on her left hand. She didn't want to take it off, but leaving it on….well, that just meant a host of issues inside – she looked from her hand to the elevator in the parking garage and back.

'_Fuck it'_, she thought '_let's go'_.

She beat Crews to work, but then she always did. He'd dropped her at her house to change for work, before heading home to his to do the same. She wondered as she rode the elevator to the lobby _if his house would be come theirs now. Of course, it would she realized, it's not like the two of them could live in her apartment_. Charlie would let her keep the place, knowing she sometimes needed alone time.

Dani realized she was humming just as the doors opened to the brightness of the lobby and she stepped out intent on visiting the coffee kiosk on the front stoop of the Department Headquarters. Nothing said LAPD like a triple shot Dante's mocha at 8AM, she thought as she ordered her usual from the kid who ran the kiosk and was probably wealthier than Crews off just her coffee habit alone. As she reached to pay the kid, her ring sparkled brightly in the morning sun, distracting her. The kid said nothing, bobbing his head to something on his MP3 player and chewing gum with more flourish than necessary.

Dani snagged an orange for Crews and waved it in front of the coffee kiosk guy's face, while he silently made her change. Dani waved off the change and walked back to her day job, earning her an appreciative nod and smile from the coffee guy. When she wasn't playing Mrs. Charlie Crews for the weekend, they still had homicides to solve, she though. So much for the weekend, but the reminder of it rolled around her fingers as she absently worked the ring's surface under her thumb.

Her phone rang as the elevator ascended and she looked at the caller ID - Crews… she thought…._could she still call him that? Wouldn't it be weird or get confusing?_ Then she remembered weird and confusing were both fairly normal with Charlie.

"Yeah, what is it?" she answered knowing it was him.

"Two days we've been married and already it's yeah, what is it?" he teased. "What happened to all that hard work I put in this weekend into learning all the best spots to make you squirm and giggle?" she could hear the grin on his face as he walked through the parking garage the echo coming to her through the phone.

"Crews, I do not giggle," she said gritting her teeth. "I'm at work – so are you from the sounds of it."

"Yes, yes I am at work. Did you get coffee yet?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Uh-huh," she said drinking while she walked.

"Did you get me anything?" Charlie was in a fantastic mood and it bubbled through the phone at her.

She looked at the orange suspiciously. _How could he know?_ She thought.

"An orange, okay, I got you an orange," she said in a low tone approaching her desk.

"You do love me," Charlie exclaimed brightly.

Dani snapped the phone shut hanging up on him.

"Reese?" He looked at the phone – plenty of bars. Perhaps he had taken the teasing too far, he thought looking down at the band on his hand. He wondered if Dani wore hers to work – after their discussion he could not be too sure, but he'd know in about 45 seconds as he stepped on the elevator and into his future.

Dani shed her jacket and powered up her computer, as Kevin Tidwell noted her entry from his office, behind a wall of glass and venetian blinds – which at the moment were open letting sharp rays of morning light stream through. He waved at Dani, still tethered to his desk, by a short phone cord. Dani tipped her coffee in his direction, but otherwise ignored him.

"Great, she's still pissed," Tidwell spoke under his breath. Then followed with a _"no, no, I wasn't talking to you" _to the person on the other end the phone. Willing the call to end, he sighed in exasperation as the person on the other end continued talking.

Charlie Crew fairly floated off the elevator. He could not remember feeling this good in the past ten years, maybe fifteen, he thought charitably. He bobbed through the bay with a powerful spring in his step and pulled out his chair, twirling it once for good measure before sitting down, opposite his dour looking partner.

He smiled at her across their conjoined desks. "Crews" she hissed. "Tone it down will ya?" she smirked at him.

"Can I help it that I love my job?" Charlie quipped. She scowled at him, but he knew she wasn't serious.

"So what shall we do today Detective Reese?" He teased lightly.

Dani rolled his orange across the desk at him and scolded, "I'm doing paperwork. Just eat your orange and be quiet, Charlie." He raised an eyebrow at her use of his first name at work.

"Sorry," she backpedaled, knowing it was going to be her that would have a tough time separately work and play.

About that time, Charlie ripped open his orange with flourish and the crisp smell of citrus burst into the room. Dani however, already had orange in her taste buds, favoring an orange and cinnamon shot in her triple mocha.

"What?" he said innocently, as she eyed him suspiciously. She looked deeply into the cup, wondering if Charlie's fruit thing was rubbing off on her, but said nothing.

Tidwell emerged from his office, rubbing his ear from a marathon phone call, eager to see his favorite detective again. He smiled at her, but Dani was busily typing, alternate between biting on and tucking a pencil behind her ear, while making corrections to a draft report in front of her.

"Detective? A word?" Tidwell tried out his usual shtick.

"I'm busy Captain," Dani said concentrating on her console.

Tidwell folded his arms across his chest and began tapping his foot. "Funny….cause when I walked in here this morning I coulda sworn I was still your commanding officer, Detective," he said pointedly.

Charlie stopped peeling his orange and locked eyes with his partner – at both home and work now. She let out a ragged sigh and rose from her desk with exaggerated exasperation.

Tidwell grinned like he'd just won something and a dry twig of jealousy and possessiveness inside Charlie snapped. The combination of his own jealousy and Tidwell's sense of entitlement irked him to no end and he pushed back from his desk and rose to his full 6'1" height. Tidwell noticed his move and said, "just Detective Reese, Crews" with a smile.

Charlie however was not smiling. Dani felt the temperature in the room drop as Crews challenged the Captain without saying a word. Tidwell tipped his chin up and leveled his gaze at Crews, the one lazy eye he had listing to the side, but otherwise meeting Crews unspoken challenge.

Neither man spoke for a moment, then Tidwell took Dani by the elbow and Charlie came unglued. He rounded his desk intent on intervening. Dani knew it would be up to her to stop this before it became a brawl. She pulled away from Tidwell and turned to face a rapidly approaching Charlie Crews who was wearing a scowl that made him appear like he was ready to commit murder right there in the squad room.

Dani placed her right hand in the middle of Tidwell's chest and raised her left to stop Crews. Charlie paused and looked down as her hand came to rest over his heart, what he saw there stopped him. On the third finger of her left hand, rested Dani's diamond wedding band, it sparkled in the sunlight from Tidwell's office, mesmerizing him. He softly reached up with his left hand and covered her small hand with his own; the titanium band on his hand making a dark line on his lean pale hand. Dani still held Crews back lightly, but is wasn't with her hand – it was with her eyes. Charlie's gaze flicked from his wife to Tidwell.

As the sparkle on Dani's hand drew all their attention, the realization dawned on Tidwell, he paled first, then flushed. He wanted to speak but the words would not come, he stammered and then rocked back from Dani's hand. She couldn't marry him, but she'd come back from a weekend with her partner, wearing his ring – and Tidwell had no doubt a piece of "bling" that expensive was purchased by the tall, red haired Detective holding her hand over his heart.

Tidwell turned on his heel and marched into his office, slamming the door and twisting the blinds violently closed.

"Okay…" Dani exhaled. "Not how I envisioned that playing out," she said under her breath. "Now go sit down and let's not turn this into a soap opera," she instructed her husband, who dutifully did as he was told.

He perched on his chair ready to spring into action "Just because he's our Captain, doesn't give him the right to order you around," he said darkly.

"Actually, it gives him precisely that right," she chided him "so cool your jets, hot shot, I'll handle him."

"Thought we weren't going to use pet names at work, honey," he whispered to her.

She grimaced and then looked him in the eye and found him smiling. She could not help but smile back. "Crews, this had to happen, I just didn't expect it to be in the first twenty minutes of Monday morning. So can you two at least let me finish my coffee before you have another episode like that?"

"All right, but he's not going to put his hands on you again," Charlie said solidly with no give in his voice, "ever".

"Yes, only you get to do that," she said under her breath.

"Damned straight," he agreed easily, making Dani smile at her husband's possessiveness.

"Thought it wasn't Zen to be attached to things, Crews?" she questioned with a hint of humor trying to lighten his mood.

"You….are not a thing…you are…..," Charlie began, then stopped before he said what he was thinking which was "mine". Dani's arched brow showed she knew his thoughts.

Charlie ruefully shook his head "Get out of my head, Reese."

"Jesus, it's only Monday and we haven't even told my parents yet," Dani said "the prospect of which makes me long for a nice gory crime scene," she groused.

"So I'm guessing we're not having them for dinner on Friday?" Charlie teased darkly.

Dani shook her head and went back to her report, studiously ignoring her husband and partner.

Charlie looked at her, his wife, working furiously, buried in her work, with her brow furrowed and focused hard on the report ahead of her. She was totally worth it. He didn't care if the whole world was pissed off at him, so long as Dani Reese still loved him. Although come to think of it, it was now Dani Crews, the idea of which made Charlie happy for no reason.


	3. Chapter 3 Families and Dinners

**Family Dinners**

They were eating Chinese take out in the kitchen of Charlie's big empty house, now their big empty house when he looked sideways at his wife and asked something he'd never considered. "Can you cook?"

"Food?" she shot slyly back arching her eyebrows in intimation. He smiled, blushed and then nodded. She shook her head and they both laughed. "Does that matter?" She inquired only mildly interested in his response and much more in what Charlie was attempting with noodles and his chopsticks.

He fiercely shook his head no while trying to navigate noodles into his mouth and failing miserably. They landed on the floor with a splat and he declared, "We need to hire a maid. Maybe a maid who can cook."

Dani paused and thoughtfully chewed on an eggroll as she pondered their shared domestic decision. _This was different_ she thought. _Here she was not the senior partner, this was a negotiation…unless she was going to demand control here too, which somehow didn't seem right_. She considered and parsed her next words carefully, demanding concessions without seeming to dictate terms to him. "This woman would have to be **very** unattractive and she would absolutely not live here," she bargained.

Charlie grinned broadly, "of course." He waited a moment, cocked his head to the side weighing the intelligence and impact of his next question, but ended up asking it anyway. "Are you going to…um… move in?"

Dani looked slightly surprised and mildly embarrassed. "Guess we never really talked this through…uh, I don't know. Do you want me to?"

"Absolutely," he said with his mouth full.

"Crews, don't talk with your mouth full," she chided.

"Yes mom," he replied cheekily after swallowing and wiping his face.

She smiled at him and stuck out her tongue.

He got up from his seat and walked until he was facing her then he leaned over and put both of his hands on the back of the couch behind and pressed down to her. "I'm afraid I'm going to you have to cite you for that lewd gesture, young lady," he teased.

"What's the fine for that officer?" Dani played back.

"A kiss," he murmured across her lips, "one that involves that offending member." He kissed her soundly, their tongues dueling for control and things progressed as he lingered over her pressing more insistently. Their dinner was forgotten as he pushed her back on the couch. "Now that I've got probable cause I might have to look a little harder," he continued. "Search beyond the scene," he bantered police jargon as his hand made it's way under her shirt. "Oh, what have we here? A concealed weapon…naughty girl," he loved playing with Dani and she just went along for the ride. A giggle erupted from her as he drew his hand lightly down her ticklish sides.

"Thought you didn't giggle, honey?" his voice an octave lower than before.

She snickered in laughter, "you are so bad. Do those lines work on other girls?"

"What other girls?" he drew back semi-serious, "Dani, there are no other girls. You are everything I want and all I ever need." He was deadly serious now.

The earnest and sincere look on his face made her decision for her. "What are you doing this weekend?" she teased.

"Whatever you say," he responded sincerely and dutifully.

"Renting a U-haul," she told him obliquely that she was ready to move in there. _After all they were married, _she reasoned, _how stupid would it be to live in separate places? _

"I could hire movers," he offered sitting back and returning to reality.

"Uh- uh, I don't want some ham handed guy going through my underwear drawer," she negated his idea.

A dark look crossed Charlie's face when he considered that visual, "no we definitely can't have that." He spoke his thoughts under his breath, but still vocalized things he didn't mean to say out loud. She realized after three years this habit was a part of him she had to accept, but it didn't stop her from staring hard at him.

"I said that aloud didn't I?" he admitted sheepishly. His mind took him back to the incident with Tidwell earlier in the week. There was now an uneasy truce between them, but it was as fractious as the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, a whisper away from all out war. "I guess I'm more disturbed by that idea than I probably should be."

"Hey," she stroked the side of his face with her fingers fingering his sideburns. "I'll get my stuff back from him and it'll be over," she promised. "It's already over. It's in the past, which technically means it doesn't exist," her playful Zen reference made his head snap up.

"Besides," she moved onto another more difficult subject, "that was the easy part. My father is going to want to kill us both," she pronounced an honest but terse assessment. "I think I like your way better. Maybe I could just never talk to him again," she offered.

Charlie said nothing knowing it was her relationship not his.

"I'd miss my mom though," she admitted and looked at him for a response.

"Yep," he sucked on his straw thoughtfully as his past dragged him back to his own mother, "miss mom." She was suddenly quite sad for Charlie who had no real family anymore. His mother dead and father dead to him, forgotten on purpose.

"Hey," she captured his attention. "You have family, Charlie. You have me, Rachel, Ted…" she trailed off as her woefully short listed ran out too soon. "You and me – we're all I need, all I want, " she promised him taking his hand and pressing their wedding bands together until she heard the metallic click.

"Would be okay if we made our own?" he asked gravely serious.

"Made our own what? Our own family?" she was blushing now and mildly embarrassed at how interested in that he seemed. "I'm not sure… I'm not saying no, I'm just saying give it some time."

"How much time?" he smiled shyly. "Is a week enough? How about a month? Until then how about we just practice?" he asked sweeping the take out off the table intent on having his way with her right then and there. She stared in shock at the mess he'd just made. "Tomorrow I'll get a maid tomorrow, honey." He promised. She just sighed and let herself be carried away by his enthusiasm.

* * *

As luck and circumstance would have it, they never quite made it to the family dinner table, because the LAPD coconut telegraph got word of his daughter's marriage to Jack Reese before she could figure out how to tell him. One morning, two days later, (again) before she got half a cup of coffee in her, she looked up to find her grim faced father standing in front of her desk alternately clenching and unclenching his fists. At the moment he was so angry he was incapable of speech, she recognized the look having provoked it in him often.

Just as the words _Thank God Crews isn't here yet _raced through her mind, the elevator pinged its arrival and the doors open revealing her smiling husband in a blue pinstripe suit cloaked in a sunny disposition, shining a bright red apple on his sleeve.

_Great_ she thought _Mr. Sunshine meets Captain Doom and Gloom_. It couldn't have been more ominous if they both were wearing tights and capes with a full orchestral accompaniment playing their respective theme music.

She couldn't help it that Crews movement drew her eyes and his mischievous smile provoked a mirroring one from her. It immediately gave her husband away and Jack Reese wheeled to put a finger in the face of the approaching Detective.

"You fucking bastard," he accused loudly.

Charlie retained his Zen armor and pivoted his head to his wife, questioning her in a light tone, while his eyes conveyed confidence and his assurance he would not lose his temper, "so you told him?"

"No," Jack spat the words, "she didn't tell me." He shouted the accusation. "I had to hear from the Department rumor mill that MY daughter married an ex-con and a murderer."

Now Dani was pissed, "OK, enough with the Days of Our Lives shit." She barked, "conference room now," adding "now" when neither man moved fast enough.

They filed in there and they became a slightly muted but still entirely visible scene until she walked deliberately to the glass window and shut each and every set of blinds, glaring at the audience of officers beyond the thin layer of glass. Charlie deliberately and strategically placed himself on the opposite end of the conference table far away from Jack, just in case he was tempted to physical violence – it would be a longer trip.

Dani's trip to the windows left her midway between the two men. Charlie smiled and Jack snarled. Dani deliberately walk to Crews side and took his hand.

"Dad, this is my husband," her introduction a photonegative of the way she'd introduced them three years prior. Charlie raised his hand and rolled the wedding band around his finger and then folded his hand and waved at Jack. She wanted to roll her eyes at Charlie's display but figured it was earned grandstanding, after all her father had his part in stealing his happiness once – Charlie would never allow that again. He deliberately then took her hand in his, raised their conjoined hands to his lips and kissed the back of Dani's hand.

Dani watched as her father came unglued. He went what the SWAT officers call "ballistic". It was impressive to say the least. He ranted, he cursed, he started to pace then checked himself and if there had been anything in the room to hurl it would have been airborne. While on occasion, Jack's tirade caused Dani to frown or outright scowl, Crews neither tensed nor fretted. He watched Jack Reese with the patient, studied indifference of a cat.

"Dani, you will end this charade," he sternly directed finger pointing at her. "Today young lady." There was no give in his demand.

She smiled and flatly refused. "No, I will not." She raised her own voice when Jack inhaled to begin again. "I will not be bullied by you or anyone else." When she had his attention she became as quiet as a church mouse and finished in a low tone brooking no argument, "I've made my choice. Now make yours. But we are a team and there is no daylight between us." She raised their hands in demonstration and felt Charlie tighten his grip. "You want to walk away – fine by me."

Jack's eyes glared and his nostrils flared. Her father for the first time in her life could summon no words, angry or otherwise. He simply didn't know how to respond to her ultimatum and it was then that Charlie spoke.

She would always remember his words not only for what he said but also for the tone in his voice and the expression on his face when he delivered them. "Confucius said 'before you embark upon a journey of revenge – dig two graves'." He paused and sought Jack's eyes. "One grave is for your enemy, the other is for you; I'm not ready to die yet Jack – are you?"

Crews offered a truce to a man he had every reason to hate. She was more proud of him in that moment than she'd ever been. She also realized the Zen was not simply a shield, it inhabited his soul and he was perhaps better and wiser than she'd ever imagined, or hoped for.

Jack's eyes changed – softened. His face remained hard, but Crews' words penetrated deeply. He looked from his daughter to her partner and back and threw in the towel. She could see his defeat before it happened.

"Does he always talk like this?"

She looked to Charlie for his answer with a twisted wry smile.

Crews responded his eyes never leaving Dani's "no, no he does not." Then he stroked the side of Dani's face and kissed her gently.

Jack Reese was far from happy, but he was a storm that had blown himself out. He would not like it, but he understood his daughter's will and his limited choices. "Call you mother," he directed and marched out without a backwards glance.

There was a long moment of silence; even though the door was open the entire building seemed to be holding its breath. Charlie exhaled audibly and then pronounced cheerily, "Well, I think that went well." Reese just groaned at his lame joke and let him gather her tightly against his chest.

She inhaled and all she could feel and smell was him. "Glad that's over," she grumbled into his chest. "I though we were going to have to resort to dueling pistols at dawn." Her dry sardonic wit in full force now that the tenseness dissipated.

He rubbed his palms against her back and continued, "I was never worried. I've seen you in the gym. You're quick and stronger than people think. Sure he's bigger, but I always knew you could take him," he jibed.

"Funny Crews," she hit him playfully in the side. "What happened to taking up for me?"

"Honey, I'll always do that. But you didn't want me to fight with him did you?" he sought her eyes with solemnity.

"Nope, you did just fine," she admitted, "better than I expected after that other thing." She thumbed her hand at the door intimating Tidwell four days earlier.

"Yeah, well. That's different." He explained. "That man put his hands on you and that's just not allowed by anyone but me." She nodded against his chest and he felt her exhale and wind down like the gyro in a small plane after it landed. Dani was spun tight but she had the strength of steel and he was so very proud of her.

"You gonna call your mom?" he ventured.

"Already did," she quipped, "the day we got back. My mother and I have no secrets. She said she knew I was in love with you before I did" she confessed, explaining to her perplexed mate, "from the way I talked about you."

"You talked to your mom about me?" his voice took on a seductive tone.

She pushed him away, "Not at work Charlie, we agreed," holding him at bay with just her eyes.

"How long till were off shift?" he smirked looking at his watch.

They emerged from the conference as a team, with Charlie hamming it up for her benefit. "Show's over, back to work. Be sure to tips your waitresses and bartenders. You've been a great crowd." Dani swatted at him, but he knew she wasn't angry.

He just needed to be the focal point in order to give her time to process. She was like that sometimes and this was one of them. She'd replay the scene with her father over and over trying to decide if she could have done it better. He realized that her relationship with her father was equal parts love and hate and the little girl who loved her father dearly was still buried deep within the tough, resilient woman he'd married.

For his part, he'd never trust the man or turn his back on him, but for Dani he would be civil. Charlie reflected on his Zen teachings "everything changes, all the time" so perhaps even Jack Reese could.


	4. Chapter 4 Christmas Presents

**Christmas Presents**

Dani Reese knew it had to be early. The sun was not even hinting at rising, the sky outside the window still pitch black; but Charlie was awake, she could feel his nervous energy in the bed beside her. "I know you're awake, Charlie and it's way too early to get up," she told him in a hopeless intent to steal ten minutes more sleep.

He rolled over and wrapped his arm over her, whispering, "Come on, Reese. It's Christmas. Aren't you the least bit interested in what gifts under that tree are for you?" he tried to tempt her from the warmth of their bed with the promise of things he spent far too much money on, but he wanted her to have.

"Those things will still be there in a couple hours," she groused, but knew he'd win her over. His enthusiasm for Christmas like a young boy's - could not be contained. She had a fleeting moment of wonder over whether he'd outgrow that tendency when he had children of his own, but she let that thought drift away, trying to remain asleep.

"Okay, then give me a hint," he countered, after a moment of peace. "What'd you get me?" He pleaded.

"You don't have to go downstairs for that one," she smiled sleepily.

Charlie was confused and she could feel his head twist against her shoulder. He was considering her comment hard she realized. "Don't strain anything wondering there, hot shot." He laughed briefly, smiled against her shoulder and kissed it.

Charlie's laugh was something she could rarely coax from the place where he held it safe from the rest of the world. It seemed to be the only part of himself he protected entirely in prison.

He wove his hand and fingers through hers. "I love that you're here with me today," he told her plainly. "I love everything about us, here, together, now… this moment."

"You know that things change, Charlie. Everything changes all the time," she told him wise beyond her relative years. She didn't seem upset by the prospect. "Things are even changing now."

"You're just using Zen to distract me from my Christmas present and that's not fair at all," he teased.

She smiled slyly. Charlie loved that smile, the one that said she knew more than she was saying. She took his hand and inverted it slowly working it slowly down her torso. Charlie thinking he knew where things were headed took over, resulting in her scolding him. "Cool your jets there, hot shot." Charlie was puzzled but played along.

"You really want to know what your Christmas present is?" she tormented him.

He shook his head eagerly.

"You'll find out today, now, but you can't play with it for a few months," she paused placing her hand over her lower belly, "its in here and it's not ready yet." She grinned at what must be the look of wonder and awe on her partner's face.

She felt the gesture as Charlie flexed his long fingers over her belly while her hand lay over his. He leaned close and kissed the juncture of her neck and shoulder whispered tenderly, "best Christmas present ever," through what she was sure were tears. She did not turn and face him, but let him have this moment to himself.

They lay very still, just his hand over her belly and hers atop his for several quiet moments. "You know that everything downstairs is going pale in comparison next to this," he offered an apology for things you could buy with money.

"Hey," she elbowed him "you gave this to me, I'm just giving it back," she giggled as he tickled her side. "Don't Charlie," she warned as he rolled her towards him to give him better access. She could see the tear marks on his face and she wiped them away with both her thumbs as she framed his face.

"See, I told you," she kissed him tenderly, "I always knew you'd have a family."

"You… you Dani," he told her, "you are my family. I never needed anyone or anything else, but this…" he looked down. "It's almost too much. I've never been so happy in my life."

"Don't you dare make me cry Crews," she warned. "Well, it's too late to give it back, so you stuck with him," she joked lightening a very serious moment.

He smiled and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "Him?"

"Oh, I don't know. It's too early for that, but I thought all men wanted sons," she offered.

"Are you kidding? Boys are nothing but trouble; I'm living proof of that. No, sir. Give me a house full of little girls. Little brown haired girls that look just like their mother, only with my cheerful disposition," he laughed.

"A houseful sounds like a lot, you do remember I have a day job?" she teased him.

But he fell very silent and stilled completely. After long moment of quiet introspection he looked deeply at her, into her and then told her with profound seriousness, "I dreamed about this… us…our children…you and me together in this house with our kids." He told her solemnly.

"In this dream, did these kids have names cause that would save a lot of time and agonizing," she smirked at him. He was not going to make her cry, she promised herself.

"Well…now that you mention it," she watched the mischievous spark in his eye begin to catch hold.

"No fruit names, Charlie," she put her finger on his lips, "promise me…I want your word, no child of ours will be named after a fruit." He nodded earnestly and crossed his heart with her finger and then kissed it.

"How about flowers? Could we name her after a flower?" he shot back after a brief pause. Dani threw her head back in mock agony and groaned. Charlie buried his head in her chest and laughed quietly, kissing her as they both caught their breath.

There was a loud crash downstairs, followed by Ted's audible "oops" resulting in more laughter.

"Neither of you have one ounce of impulse control," Dani giggled.

They rose together, brushed their teeth and Dani her hair before descending the stairs to greet Ted. Charlie reached the bottom of the stairs well ahead of Dani, hugging Ted and announcing "Merry Christmas, buddy". Ted just blushed at his friend's effusiveness.

"Wow, if you're this excited now, just wait until we get to the gifts," Ted remarked wryly.

"Already got my first and best one, maybe the best one ever," Charlie whispered seeming like he might take flight with his buoyant mood, inclining his head toward Dani who was descending the stairs focused on the strong smell of coffee.

"Listen Charlie, I know you like her, but I don't need a blow by blow," Ted said blushing.

Charlie connected the dots and rolled his eyes, "its not that. Although…." But decided against finishing the thought out loud. "No," he smiled and crossed the distance in a few long strides to lift Dani Reese off the stairs, spin her around and place her on the marble floor.

She scowled at him. "What did I tell you about picking me up?" He swallowed hard.

"That it equaled death," he repeated with his head down, "but it isn't everyday..."

"Christmas? No thank god." Ted laughed, "we'd go broke just from what you lavish on Dani." She frowned at them both.

"I need coffee." She pronounced.

"Is that okay? For the…" he looked down at her belly and arched his eyebrows.

She whispered at him with a huge grin on her face, "it's okay to say the word 'baby' Crews. And this kid will be drinking coffee from the bottle." She said decidedly.

Charlie just nodded and turned to his friend, "Ted, we're going to have a baby," he chattered animatedly, "a little girl." He'd apparently set his heart on this undefined fact. Dani rolled her eyes at him.

"What? I hope… a little girl," he qualified himself, "…or a boy. Either way I'm fine. But a baby Ted! We're having a baby," he said trying to stifle himself from shouting it and jumping around like he'd just won the lottery. Although in Charlie's case with his past and baggage, she considered it might be the genetic equivalent.

Dani secretly loved the fact that when Charlie told his friend, as she knew he invariably would (barely able to contain himself) he'd chosen to say it that way.

Most men would say "I'm going to be a father", like they done something on their own, but not Charlie Crews. _They_ were having a baby, the two of them, together, partners in everything now.

Dani ducked into the kitchen ostensibly to grab coffee, but she had to wipe at her own tears, swearing softly "bastard still made me cry".

* * *

It was still quite dark outside, though dawn was tingeing the sky. Dani did not even want to venture a guess at the hour that Charlie first dragged her from their warm bed. _Last Christmas, without kids to sleep in_ she thought wrecked by the man now racing very high-end remote control cars with Ted around the foyer. She'd bought them as a pair, thinking the expensive toys would be something Charlie and Ted would enjoy. And they did, smiling and playfully jostling each other like eight year olds, as the cars raced around the foyer and kitchen and patio, at frightening speeds and often with cataclysmic results.

In the background, a giant Douglas fir twinkled with multi-color lights and way too many icicles, which Charlie considered an experiment. He began by tossing them from the second floor for _better dispersal_ and ended with slinging whole fistfuls at the tree, laughing until he nearly doubled over.

Ted bought her elegant crystal ornaments as well as traditional shiny red, blue, green, gold and silver balls commenting, "shiny silver handcuffs were not at all festive." They'd nearly made themselves sick stringing popcorn one night and those efforts also hung on the monstrous tree. It was a very festive fir, she concluded, one that has nearly crashed a couple times from very high speed collisions with Charlie's car.

"See why I don't let him drive," she told Ted, who'd laughed good-naturedly.

They'd skipped making breakfast, in favor of just coffee and Danishes, but Dani's stomach rumbled and she knew that soon she'd not be able to skip her morning meal. She was sitting on the couch, sipping her second coffee, wearing a frightfully expensive pair of diamond studs that Charlie insisted _really didn't cost that much_, while Ted shook his head vigorously behind his friend's back.

Charlie loved to spoil her. Their children would be similarly lavished with gifts and it would fall to Dani to restrain him from giving their little girl the moon and a full set of stars before her first birthday. Dani absently stroked her own belly realizing he'd converted her to thinking about the baby as a little girl from his constant reference to "her".

"I'm serious about the flower thing," he remarked from behind. "Wouldn't Lily be a beautiful name for our daughter, Dani?" he murmured in her ear, "or Rosa" he offered a compromise. "Or how about Lily Rose?" Dani wrinkled her nose. "Okay, okay, little too storybook." She nodded, but said nothing.

Ted excused himself, deciding the time was right to present his gift to his friends. He crept quietly to his apartment and retrieved the small yellow pup from her crate. "You be good," he coached, "these are the best masters any dog could wish for" he promised the quiet little pup.

Charlie had Dani wrapped in his embrace on the couch as he gently stroked her hair and they drank their coffee contentedly.

"Ahem," Ted said stepping through the door with his hand behind his back. "This is for both of you," and he placed the puppy on the ground. Dani just gaped and Charlie's eyes lit up, then he grinned.

"A house is not a home without a dog," Ted pronounced, "or so said the breeder."

Dani set her coffee cup on the sofa table and leaned over to quietly clap her hands and beckon to the puppy. The pup took one backwards glance at Ted and scampered into Dani's waiting hands.

"Yeah, I'd pick her too," Ted said softly when the pup made a beeline for Dani.

"Are you sure you're not trying to steal my girl?" Charlie laughed as the puppy licked at Dani's face and chewed her hair.

Ted just laughed, "like that's even possible. You two? You two have to be together, no one else would put up with either of you," his honesty refreshing.

"He's right you know?" Charlie seized the pup by the muzzle and planted a big kiss on it. The pup was taken aback and paused before again ferociously licking every exposed surface. "Does she have a name?" Charlie asked chuckling at their predicament.

"Uh…something official and long, but the breeder just called her Daisy," Ted said, the amusement and happiness apparent in his voice.

Charlie froze for a second and then looked directly at Dani. "Wait…" he started.

"Oh, no mister. Daisy it is. That's one less flower name you can burden our children with," she finished, smiling brightly at him.

* * *

About a half hour later, Ted excused himself, intent on visiting his grandson and showering gifts upon his namesake, now that it was a decent hour. Charlie and Dani filled a big bowl from the kitchen with water and a smaller one with some kibble, which the hyperactive puppy ravenously devoured before falling asleep half in and half out of his food bowl. The house finally quieted down.

"Listen," Charlie told her.

"Are you talking to me or the dog?" Dani smarted back.

"By next Christmas, we'll have a rambunctious puppy _and _an infant. It will never be this quiet in here again." He remarked.

"Will you miss it?" She asked. "The solace, the quietness, the peace."

"Nope," he said without hesitation. "Life is noisy, messy and sometimes nerve-wracking, but it's real.

"Yeah, but….." she began, wondering what would happen to his meditations and all his space, when the clutter of life over took them.

"Shhhh…" he coached stroking her head and holding her close. "Confucius said 'wheresoever you go, go with all your heart'." He turned her to face him "my heart goes with you, wherever you want, for as long as I live," he was quite seriously.

"Don't you make me cry, Charlie," she warned him softly.

"Here, I got something that'll cheer you up after being told you're saddled with me for the rest of your life," he joked and announced, "I got you something else," he said handing her a small red velvet box.

Dani held the box but did not open it. Instead she sought his eyes and told him very plainly, "you know I love you right? I'm not saddled with you, I chose you, Charlie." she was very serious and her confession heartfelt.

"That's my girl," he kissed her forehead, "now open your present."

When she opened it Dani had to grin. "Aw, how thoughtful. My own key to _my _car," she teased when she opened the small box and found the Maserati logo on the shiny silver key.

"No, honey. Not your own key," he said anxiously as he grabbed her by the hand and dragged to the door of their home, "your own car." And sure enough there in the drive set a matching car, equal to his in size and power, a candy apple red Maserati Quattro Porte.

"That's not for me," she joked, "that's so you can have your car back."

He looked a bit chagrinned and then gathered her into his arms and said softly into her ear, "I'll get car seats for both of them." He was still high on the fact he was going to be a father, have a family and the joyousness in him was barely containable, again reminding her of a young child.

He put his hand on her waist and she warned him sternly, "pick me up Crews and you die." He sighed heavily knowing she was on to him, but was content to simply hold her tightly against his chest as the sun rose over the mountains behind their home.

"Look, Dani, it's a whole new day," his voice thick with emotion. Dani smiled knowing it was for them - a fresh start, a new life and beginning again. Rebirth, renewal, love and light - it changed the world coloring it shades she had yet to learn the names for, but ones they would learn together.


End file.
